Household refuse and garbage are temporarily stored in a container, such as a cylindrical metal can, cylindrical plastic container or a parallelepiped plastic container, for disposal at various collection times. Usually, the filled refuse container is placed on or near the curb of the street for collection. While the collection day is fairly certain, the exact collection time is often a mystery. Typically, a person places container out for collection when leaving for work in the morning and retrieves the container when returning from work in the evening often causing the empty container to be exposed several hours after collection. The empty container may be exposed to the elements for several hours where the wind can blow it into the street creating a hazard and possibly damaging the container. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a device to restrain the empty container to prevent it from blowing into the street.
Prior efforts to keep refuse containers secure and stationary while unattended after dumping employ an anchored pole with a hook for engaging the handle of the container. While these work, to some extent, to restrain the container, they are dependent upon the effort of the collector to engage the handle of the container with the hook. Unfortunately, a refuse collector cannot always be relied upon to properly hang the container on the hook owing to a lack of time, or initiative, or both. A refuse collector will normally flip the empty container upside down and return it to the area where it was found. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a device to restrain a refuse container that requires minimal effort and minimal time.